March 26, 2009

A source said MU wants to extend Anderson's deal to five years and increase his guaranteed money from $850,000 to at least $1 million.

Six years ago, Missouri was willing to spend like college basketball royalty. Mizzou Arena was under construction, and Quin Snyder was the fourth-highest-paid coach in the nation. Snyder earned $1.2 million annually in guaranteed money in his last contract. Times have changed, thanks to the tanking economy. Pinkel, with his new $2.3 million deal in November, got paid before the bottom dropped out.

The athletic budgets at Georgia and Alabama are in the $70 million range, while Missouri's is about $44 million. MU can't afford to get into a bidding war with those schools.

If they are talking about pay raises in that general ballpark, they aren't remotely close to what UGA and Bama are rumored to be willing to spend on a coach with Anderson's resume. If you're wondering why we would have a shot at Anderson, that's it.

Erik,What would be a problem with someone from Nolan Richardson's coaching tree? I am aware of the stupid stuff he said in his final year at Arkansas but is there any other shady stuff he has been involved in?

From what little I know about the situation, Mike Anderson sounds like an exciting and more importantly a good fit for the Dawgs. Lets go get him!

The only thing we have to hang our hat on is we haven't asked for permission to talk with anyone, so we haven't been rejected. I assume the search firm has back channeled all of the above to gauge interest.

So did Damon meet with Grant today as rumored, or did Grant spent the day drinking tea with the Queen of England at a restaurant in Versailles, next to a table where Mike Mercer discussed a much delayed transfer to UK with Billy Gillispie?

Even if you're concerned about Anderson coming from the Nolan Richardson family tree, he spent four years at UAB (and another three now at Missouri) without having gotten his teams into any kind of recruiting trouble, and without having gotten in the news for any stupid sound bites.

He got UAB into the NCAA tournament three out of four years (and the NIT the other), and as Paul pointed out in an earlier post, this was when he had to go up against Louisville and Marquette, not to mention a Bob Huggins-coached Cincinnati team, each year. Here at UAB, I think there are quite a few people who would love to have him back.

You people are bat-ass crazy if you think Anderson is heading to UGA after last night's W! Would someone please give me 3 compelling reasons for him to come to the Classic City and lead our Hoop Dawgs?

As much I would like to see it happen, I simply see no logical reason for it playing out. If Kentucky fires BG, we are back to bottom rung on the ladder. Does anyone have RJ's number handy?

For some reason, I feel that Mizzou's win last night just eliminated any chance we have at getting Anderson. First, Mizzou will match anything we can offer him. Second, Mizzou has a new arena which is bad-ass, and their fans are nuts about basketball. Third, this is the type of win that the Mizzou program can build off of (in terms of getting recruits, etc.) Fourth, other more powerful programs (UK, Zona, etc) may now get into the Anderson sweepstakes as well.

I just don't see how we can possibly lure him to Athens, especially given our apathetic feelings towards basketball, our crappy arena, and the fact that we absolutely are a football school and always will be (unlike Mizzou, Zona, etc.)

I will give you money. However, UGA is most certainly less of a program then Mizzou, which means your recruits theory is false. UGA is dead last in hoops action in the East. How happy can one be in a great city such as Athens finishing last in the East every year. As Felton just how happy he was in Athens. If you were a high school senior right now, where would you head to play ball, Athens, GA or Columbia, MO?

Anon 10:35, only in the past several years can you make the case that Mizzou is a better program than Georgia. I mean, come on...Mizzou has never even been to a final four (heck, even UGA has done that). Before Anderson's arrival, Mizzou slogged along with Norm Steward (who was finally pushed out) followed by Snyder's disastrous campaign.

Regarding recruiting, a good coach can recruit to UGA much easier than Mizzou, as Georgia produces much more talent that Missouri. I think that is what others are referring to, hence the reason why UGA has been called by many a "sleeping giant" in basketball.

You've got to be kidding me with the question of why would someone want to come to UGA. Your making maybe after bonuses...$1M, we offer you $2M. I don't care about anything else... You would be the worlds' biggest idiot not to take. And you would be king of the school if all you did was make the Tournament every year. Who goes home to their wife and says "I was offered a job making twice what I make today, doing the same thing... But I rejected it because I have to think about my fellow coworkers....." Stupid!

others have already pretty much said it, but I'll reiterate it. Missouri is only a better basketball program if you take into account the past several years with Anderson. Other than that they're just a mid-tier Big XII school that has never been to a final four.

As far as recruits, the Atlanta area is one of the most fertile talent pools for basketball anywhere in the country, far more so than Missouri. At Missouri, Anderson has to recruit from far away. 15 of the top 150 recruits in the country this past year came from the Atlanta area. It goes without saying that being at Georgia puts you in the best position to tap into that.

As far as Felton being happy, he was very happy in Athens, as was his family. I'm sure he would have loved to do better than last in the East, but he just didn't have what it takes. Seeing as all coaches have an ego of some sort, I'm sure Anderson would like the challenge to build a program and put his name on it.